York Revolution's Matt Fox back on the hill and healthy again

The former big leaguer is scheduled to start for the Revs on Saturday, a year after overcoming shoulder tendinitis.

Matt Fox didn't know what to think. He sat out almost the entire 2012 season because of shoulder soreness and tendinitis, yet the York Revolution asked him to start on three-day's rest Sunday.

"I was a little hesitant, but you know you've got to do what your manager says and believe he has your best interest in everything he does," Fox said. "But at first, I was taken aback."

Fox survived two innings. He didn't feel sharp, but he didn't feel pain. And that in and of itself was what Revs manager Mark Mason wanted Fox to know: He was back -- he's healthy again.

Coming off a nightmare season where he made just three starts at Triple-A, with each successive appearance going "worse and worse," the Mariners sat him down.

Originally expected to miss three weeks, an MRI resulted in four months of rehabilitation.

He returned to Double-A admittedly at about "80 to 85 percent," and pitched in two games at that level before the Mariners released him.

He's been focused on returning to 100 percent ever since, but he didn't know if he was there yet when he arrived at spring training in April.

"I was definitely not sure, I felt good all offseason but it's different going from throwing bullpens to facing hitters in a competitive atmosphere," Fox said. "I was still wondering how it would feel throwing 100 percent and throwing competitively. I've been real happy with the results."

Mason thought Fox, 30, had really good command.

Advertisement

He thought his mechanics looked fine. He thought the next step was proving to Fox that he's healthy again.

"That was part of the reason I wanted him to come back on three-day's rest," Mason said. "It's just a question of him getting over that hump and realizing he's healthy enough. ... You're going to be cautious when you're coming off (an injury). As soon as you feel anything, you get worried. So sometimes, because you don't want to feel anything, you throw but you don't do intense throwing.

"What happened on Sunday was good for him. ... I think he's over the hump. Now he just has to put the work in and keep going."

Fox has already overcome a serious injury, suffered during his first month in professional baseball. Drafted by the Twins with the 35th overall pick in 2004, the right-hander missed the entire 2005 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum.

"It was a long, long process," Fox said. "I tried to rehab for about six months to a year, and then I finally had surgery. ... Coming back from that was one of the hardest things I've ever done, just mentally and physically. I wasn't the pitcher I was before. It took a good two years from that surgery in '05 to even get back to 90 percent."

He remembers a coach asked him about his velocity in 2007 spring training before Fox learned he was only registering between 79 and 82 mph. He made a quick jump to 87 after that, but it was a long way back to the low 90s -- where he sits now.

He made it all the way back, reaching the majors with the Twins and Red Sox in 2010 -- appearing in four big league games.

"He throws 90 to 92," Mason said. "He throws the ball down in the zone. He has a good cutter. His breaking ball is good. He has a good changeup. There's no doubt he has a great arm. A great arm."

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story